Beschreibung:

Roscoe (William). The Butterfly's Ball, and the Grasshopper's Feast, 1st edition, printed for J. Harris Jany. 1st. 1807, fourteen copper engraved illustrations after William Mulready with engraved verse above, including frontispiece, printed on one side of the leaf only (facing versos and rectos), blank leaf at rear, without watermark, lightly toned, and some marks and staining, corners curled, contemporary ownership name on front free endpaper, juvenile pencil scribblings on reverse of frontispiece and facing front pastedown (not laid down), original printed buff wrappers, text within double entwined trail of leaves and berries, rubbed and slightly frayed, spine with old stitched repair, small hole in upper cover (affecting imprint) sometime repaired, 16mo, together with [Dorset, Catherine Ann (Turner)], The Peacock "At Home:" A Sequel to the Butterfly's Ball. Written by a Lady. and Illustrated with Elegant Engravings, 1st edition, printed for J. Harris 1807, five (of six) copper engraved plates after William Mulready including frontispiece, toned and dust-soiled, a few fox spots, some minor edge-fraying in places, final text leaf with horizontal tear, original printed buff wrappers, rubbed and stained, worn spine with remains of old stitched repair, 16mo, plus [Elliott, Mary], The Mice, and their Pic Nic. A Good Moral Tale, &c. by a Looking-Glass Maker, printed by William Darton, 1813, engraved frontispiece and five engraved plates, toned throughout, some tears and repairs (and slight loss to upper blank corners of final two leaves), contemporary ownership names on title-page, book ticket of Lawrence Darton on front pastedown, stitching broken, and page block loose in original printed wrappers (undated), soiled and worn (with loss to upper corner of lower cover, 13 x 10.5cm (Qty: 3) Provenance: from the Darton family collection. First two items: Gumuchian 4967 & 2241; Moon 725 & 215(1); Osborne, pp.76 & 61. Third item: the fourth edition of the author's first published work; all early editions are hard to find in the original wrappers. Darton H467(4); Gumuchian 4030 (2nd edition of 1810 in modern calf); Lilly Library, p.61 (1st edition of 1809); Osborne, p.635 (2nd edition of 1810, lacking the covers).